One Tree Hill fans think there may be some drama going on behind the scenes of Drama Queens.
At the beginning of March, fans of the iHeart Media podcast—hosted by former co-stars Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, and Sophia Bush—began to suspect that two of the three women were no longer on good terms. While Burton and Bush’s OTH characters Payton and Brooke had the most beef during the series’ run from 2003-2012 (we all know Lucas Scott’s name was on the damn door under Brooke’s name), this alleged feud involves Burton and Lenz, who played even-keeled Haley James Scott on the popular teen drama.
Here’s everything you need to know about the online discourse, which would probably be better suited for BookTok than The CW.
A bit of important background context first.
Over the years, Burton, Bush, and Lenz have spoken at length about misogynistic and inappropriate behavior by show creator Mark Schwahn. Back in 2017, Burton, Bush, and Lenz joined other former stars of the show in signing an open letter accusing him of sexual harassment and manipulation.
On their own podcast, the trio discussed how Schwahn would pit the women on the series against each other. In one instance, Burton and Bush were pressured to take part in a Maxim magazine cover shoot in 2006, while Lenz was told she was “too fat” for the cover and was replaced by cast-mate Danneel Ackles. However, Bush was led to believe Lenz turned the shoot down.
“When I said, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ I was like, ‘But Joy’s not doing it! She said no. Why does she get to say no?’” Bush recalled. “They go, ‘Well, she said no, so you have to say yes. She said no first.’ They scapegoated you to tell the three of us we couldn’t say no…. We weren’t mad at you but we were pissed about it.”
All this to say, any discussion of “feuding” between these women is bound to bring up some intense feelings for fans as well as the actors themselves.
So, what’s going on right now?
On February 29, Bethany Joy Lenz announced her new memoir, Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show.
“Dinner for Vampires, my memoir about the decade i spent in an abusive, high-demand group (aka, cult) is on presale now,” she captioned her post. “Being a writer has been a great, private joy in my life since I was about 12. This isn’t the first book I thought I’d write, publicly, but as difficult as this subject matter is to untangle, I’m grateful I get to share my story, my way. It’s a story of forgiveness and a roadmap to how manipulation works, with heartache and humor along the way. We all make mistakes and I hope Dinner for Vampires reminds you that, no matter what weird roads you’ve gone down, you’re not alone.”
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